


Working Theories

by pinkbowbunny



Category: Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns
Genre: Gay, M/M, just gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 07:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19825075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkbowbunny/pseuds/pinkbowbunny
Summary: Hey Trio of Town fandom! Y'all need more gay stuff! Here's some Ford/Wayne!Our not-quite-a-playboy postman is harboring a pretty big crush on the town doctor. Today's the day he finally admits it. Pretty much just a confession fic, based on some hints I've seen in the game with Ford and Wayne's dialogue. Hope you enjoy and please comment or kudo~





	Working Theories

It was a Friday, late Fall, at the Garden Grill. Ford had made a custom of sharing a pizza with Wayne at the end of the week for a couple of years, and thats what he was doing now.

One might expect a cowboy to want half a cow on his pizza, but thankfully like Ford, Wayne could appreciate his vegetables, and never complained about the extra peppers and broccoli Ford liked on his pies, unlike most people.

He also never complained about how Ford always talked his ear off during this and every other meal they shared together. A fact that wasn't lost on Ford in the long run, although of course he was initially oblivious, like he was with most human interactions. But he eventually got a reminder of how tiresome he was to deal with, having gotten on some random person's bad side like he often did at least periodically, and decided to mention to his friend as way of saying thanks that day, "You know Wayne... You're really a very good listener. I appreciate you listening to what I have to say. I'm aware I can tend to get tiresome for some. Thank you for putting up with me..."

Wayne looked up mid-bite, looking a little comical with his mouth hanging open like that. "Hah...? What the—I mean...? Thanks...? And yer welcome...? But, who says yer tiresome? I ain't never said that..."

Ford shook his head. "No, of course not. Thats what I mean. Most people don't say so either, but I can tell most people tend not to really listen to me after a while. They usually tune me out. Even Brad sometimes, often times in fact, and I consider him my second closest friend after you. But even he sometimes only pretends to listen, while actually focusing on his food instead. I don't mind it most of the time, of course, I know he's busy, but... I must admit, its nice to have a friend who is willing to make that extra effort... Its because we are 'best friends', correct? I'm not so good at reading people, but I've thought of us that way for a while... I hope thats alright?"

The blue-eyed postman smiled around his slice, chewing past the growing grin. "Naw, I don't mind, o' course, I feel the same... And yeah, I guess? I mean, other people have told me before that they thought I was a good listener, but I actually genuinely like hearing what you have to say a lot more. All those adoring fangirls never have anything too interesting to hear after a while... I think the life of a doctor sounds much more fascinating!"

Ford raised a brow back at him. "If you say so, I suppose... In any case, its no wonder you have so many of those fangirls. Women are always saying they want their men to be a 'good listener'. Yes, thats no doubt why you constantly have so many women trailing after you..."

Wayne quirked a brow right back at him at that. "Ya think...? I dunno, maybe... But then again, maybe it might be for a different reason..."

He meant it as a throwaway comment, but of course the curious doctor latched onto the suggestion. "Oh? So do you have a theory about the matter?"

Wayne snorted, seemingly in amusement, although Ford wasn't sure what had been funny. "A theory... You and yer theories, Ford... It's more like a... Reason. A personal one..."

Ford had apparently forgotten about his meal. All of his attention was now on Wayne. Which in turn made the cowboy squirm, unable to focus on his own meal. "Do you mind sharing...? Or is it too personal...?"

After a pause, the handsome cowboy eventually smiled and shook his head. "Not for my best friend, I don't think. But not right here. It'd be better to talk about it somewhere more private. Do you mind if we go for a walk after lunch?"

Ford agreed, and after they finished their food, they walked along the path leading up the mountain, to the overlook that got the best view of the town and sky, and all the brown and red and yellow leaves floating around it. On the way there, Wayne began to mention, "Hey, you remember those surprise mint cookies o' mine that you like so much?"

"Oh yes! Do you have any?" Ford inquired excitedly, hoping for a breath mint after his lunch.

Wayne chuckled and nodded, pulling out a small baggie of the from his coat pocket and handing them over. "You know I always keep some on hand for you, friend. But, yanno... Do you know how I came up with the recipe for these?"

Ford took the baggie and procurred a cookie from it, munching the sweet cripsy mintiness thoughtfully before putting the rest of the bag in his pocket for later. "Admittedly I cannot imagine how you did it... It doesn't seem like a combination one would normally think to make. And you yourself have admitted you don't care for them. So what possessed you to think it up and create it...?"

Wayne gave him a slow smirk, and then a full grin. "...Fangirl repellant."

Ford blinked back at him. "...I beg your pardon...?" What did that even mean...?

The cowboy quickly began to explain as giggles started to shake his frame, "Those fangirls... Always shoving sweets at me, so I finally decided, aw heck with it, I guess I should give em something back... But then, I wanted to make sure to give them all something that would make them want to not come back and bother me anymore. So, since I'm such a good listener... I found out what taste each of them hates most in the world... And I made each one of them a special cookie, filled with their absolute most hated food... And surprise, surprise! Wouldn't you know it, Ford? At least half of my fangirls stopped talking to me overnight! Such a shame~ That you just happened to like one of those weird things was just a happy accident, hehe..."

Ford stopped and stared at the other man at first, a smile slowly stretching his lips. "That's... Clever. A bit manipulative, but very clever. I must admit, I'd probably do the same if I was in your position. Probably... But then, aren't you worried you might have chased away 'the right one' by accident?"

They had reached the top. Wayne stopped and looked down upon the town. All of his life, in a single horizon... How small it all seemed from up here... "Naw, not really... Because, well... I'm pretty darn sure 'the one', for me...? Probably isn't a 'She'..."

It took less time than Wayne expected for Ford to 'get it', and when he did, he looked over at Wayne in shock, but not any sort of horror. Of course not. More like curiosity... "...R-Really?"

Wayne just nodded, as if they were discussing something as simple as the sky over their heads. "Girls have always kinda crowded around me, wanting to be friends or catchin' feelings for me cause o' my pretty face, but, well... I can't help but think that might be why. Yanno... Because sometimes people want most, what they can never really have...?"

Ford took a deep breath and nodded, "I must admit, I never would have expected it from you of all people? But also, it makes sense, and... I want you to know, I support you completely, Wayne. I'd never judge someone for their sexuality!"

Wayne snorted and nodded again, cautiously glancing over at the doctor, "Ah... S-So then, uh... Do you mind me asking...? I mean... What about you? You get plenty of lady patients swooning over you sometimes, don'tcha?"

Not quite 'getting it' this time despite the subject at hand, Ford rolled his eyes, "Well, of course, but the Hippocratic Oath clearly states-"

Wayne was the next to roll his eyes then, and sighed for good measure. "Ford, are you gay too?" He deadpanned next, knowing that subtlety was not the doctor's strong suit.

Ford's eyes were suddenly on him, staring at him. Blinking in amazement. He then looked down at his own hands, as if the gloves that covered the digits might know the answer to that when he didn't. "I... I don't... I'm not sure...? I never thought about it... I mean, well... Not never, but, um...?"

Wayne seemed to be almost as confused as he was by the display. "Ah... Not never...?"

Ford wasn't good at guessing games, but he got that Wayne was hoping for an explanation. "It's just... I suppose I sometimes wondered why I never seemed to be especially attracted to women... So I wondered if perhaps that was the reason, but then I never really had any experience to base my hypothesis on either way, so..."

The cowboy scratched underneath the brim of his hat, by his ear, looking a little nervous... "Uh... W-Well, just sayin', um... If you, uh... If you need someone to, yanno, help you run an experiment, to test yer hypothesis, or what have ya, well... Just sayin'! I wouldn't mind...?"

Ford looked more like an owl at the moment than the one hootin' in the tree beside him. "Run an experiment...? But what kind of experiment could produce the sort of results needed to-oof? Um...?"

The doctor's lips suddenly stilled as his friend put a gentle fingertip up to shush him. He let a sigh slip, then asked hesitantly, "H-Hey, Ford... Do me a favor and stay real still for a minute, will ya?"

Stay still? What an odd request. Ford was used to being the one to ask others that. So being used to being the one in the opposite position, he did what he would expect any patient to do if he asked them the same thing, and went very, very still. Stiff as a board.

"..." Wayne sighed and rolled his eyes. "Not... THAT still, buddy. Just... Just try not to run away on the spot or punch me or whatever..."

Ford's eyes went wide, alarmed by those suggestions, but he did as he was asked and remained still, loosening up a bit too. He was utterly confused by his friend's behavior, but also, he was terribly curious...

Slowly, Wayne reached up, brushing the doctor's bangs aside, out of his eyes and behind his ears. Ford shuddered a little at the simple touch, especially when Wayne's fingertips brushed over the top of his ear...

Ford was just starting to give him a confused stare, when the cowboy suddenly reached behind the doctor's neck, gently dragging him down a little closer to his height. So that they were now face-to-face, a mere inch away from each other...

Wayne seemed to pause then, as if waiting for Ford to do something. Except Ford was waiting on him, of course. Even standing on the threshold, Ford didn't have the ability to see past the doorway. Although his heart was beating extra hard and fast right now, for some reason...

Well, no use waiting any longer, Wayne decided. Sometimes you just gotta rip the bandaid off, so to speak...

He reached up, and simultaneously, he pulled Ford down... Their lips aligned, a little uneven, and a lot more unsure, but neither of them made any move to pull away. After shaking for a second or two, Wayne even laid an unsteady hand on one of Ford's forearms, squeezing gently before he finally got self-conscious and pulled away once more, glancing up into those wide, bespectacled eyes with worry in his own.

"...Um." The cowboy quickly took his hands back, and a step away, reaching up and pulling the brim of his hat over his eyes in embarrassment. "S-So then, doc, uh... Do you maybe have a theory now...?"

Of course the physician didn't quite know how to react at first, until his friend interrupted his currently crashed train of thought to ask what he had. Only then did Ford finally shake his head, and set his mouth in a frown. "A theory, you say... Ridiculous! How could I possibly come up with a theory...?"

Wayne mistook what he meant at first. He was about to turn to leave, his face going red with embarrassment... But then suddenly, the older man grasped him by the shoulder, pulling him back to face him. "I meant..." Ford specified as patiently as possible. "That how am I supposed to come up with a theory... When we haven't tested the hypothesis again? Everyone knows you have to test a hypothesis at least twice before you settle on a theory, Wayne..."

His handsome friend went still as he leaned back in, pressing his lips more firmly against his this time, and letting out a small, quiet moan as Wayne tilted his head just slightly. Both of his gloved white hands were grasping the other man's shoulders. Wayne had his on Ford's hips, pulling their bodies to align together.

This kiss lasted much longer than the first. Neither of them were in any hurry to progress it further, they both were content to feel the other man's body pressing against their own... At first, at least...

After a moment, one of Wayne's hands slipped over the curve of his hips... And to the curve behind them, giving a very light squeeze...

Ford gasped as he pulled back, staring wide-eyed at Wayne's sheepish face. "Ah, s-sorry, I just, ah..."

The doctor cut him off curtly there. "Wayne? I believe I now have a theory..."

The lemon-headed postman blinked curiously at that. "Oh?"

"Yes." Ford stated simply, and even more simply, he concluded quite confidently, "...I'm gay."

Wayne snorted at that. "Man, I wish finding out had been that easy for me..."

Ford was used to things being much more complicated for him as well. A little confused by the supposed simplicity, and wondering what else he must be missing, the doctor finally inquired, "Well, ah... Thank you, f-for helping me figure that out about myself..." He didn't have to say it outright, but Wayne could hear it in his tone. 'What now?', he was clearly asking...

The postman straightened up then, as if he was about to deliver the most important news of his life. And in his opinion, he very much was... "Yer welcome, Ford. But... You know I wouldn't just do that for any guy, right? Even though I do like guys, it doesn't mean I like ALL guys... In fact, I'd say I'm actually pretty picky. I wouldn't kiss a guy unless I really, really loved them and trusted them..."

Blushing at that strangely intense face Wayne was giving him, Ford quickly removed his glasses. To clean them. Not to avoid his sincere and beautiful eyes, nope... "O-Oh...?"

Wayne went on, "I... I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even tell a guy unless I really loved and trusted him... I've never told anybody else before, so... It'd be a really big deal if I told someone else, especially a guy... B-Basically, I wouldn't tell a guy something like that, unless..."

There was a fat pause. "...Unless?"

Stepping back into his personal space, Wayne got up close. To see if he'd mind this time, when he knew he normally would. But he didn't. This apparent fact made him confident enough to admit to the other man, with their eyes locked on each other, "...Unless I was really, seriously in love with the guy, and had been for years...?"

Ford's eyes went wide, but he quickly shook the shock away. After all the puzzle pieces Wayne had given him, it was simple enough for him to put them together and form the picture. "I... I see..."

Wayne looked up into his eyes. Waiting for his response. Acknowledgement at least...?

But the man who could normally talk your ear off... Suddenly didn't quite know what to say. He'd never been in such a position before. Well, at least not one with a member of the same sex, where he was actually aware he was being propositioned...

He was silent at first, but then suddenly his mouth began to move, without much say-so from him. "It's just-Are you sure? Me? Even if you're not interested in the opposite sex... Just, me, of all people...?"

Wayne nodded surely, not a hint of hesitation. "You. Of all people. I only want you, doc. But... I know with a reputation like mine, it's probably hard for a guy like you to believe. So, just so you know... I don't mind if I'm just not the guy for you, even if you know you're into guys now. And even if you think you might like me like that, I don't mind if you gotta... Yanno, do some tests first or something, to make sure being with me actually sounds like a plausible theory, I guess...?"

"You mean..." Ford blinked in confusion. "Are you asking me... If I trust you? Because that's easy, of course I do. I can say much more easily and much more confidently that I trust you than I can say that I love you. That is - Of course I like you, of course I enjoy your company, it's just... I don't... I don't really know..." He was apparently too embarrassed to complete that thought, and instead opted to change the subject. "In any case... I trust you..."

Wayne had been this man's friend more than long enough to know what he was trying to say at the moment, and it hurt his heart, that he didn't know how to tell if he was feeling love, because he'd never felt it before... He was quiet at first, unsure of what to say. But the right words eventually came to him... "Ford... You weren't even sure if you might like guys until you gave it a shot, so... No pressure, but just sayin'? Sometimes... Sometimes people think they know what they want, but it's not something they can ever really have... But then, sometimes people don't even know what they want, and then..."

"And then they realize..." Ford suddenly finished his thought, much to Wayne's surprise. "Just what they were missing..."

Wayne looked back over to his best friend. He was staring out at the horizon, his eyes completely focused on the golden-orange sunset... But his face was beet-red. The doc carried on... "They realize... That they weren't missing anything... Except for the knowledge of just what they really possessed... Just curious though, Wayne? When did you realize? What you felt for me? How did you test it, to make sure...?" He needed some advice from his friend on this. He was feeling an awful lot in his chest right now, but he wasn't sure how to label it, how to be sure of it...

But Wayne just snorted and chortled, taking off his hat and fanning himself. "Aw man, Ford - I already told ya, doc! You're the one who likes hypotamuses or hippothesises or whatever-"

"Hypothesis." Ford corrected quickly.

Wayne went on as if he hadn't heard him. "But that's not me. I don't need a theory, doc... I just know. I trust what my heart has been telling me."

Ford nodded. "Well... I'm not the kind of man who usually trusts his heart... But like I said. I do trust you. And I trust the trust that you have in yourself..."

Wayne put his hat back on and then laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing in support. "I trust you to trust yourself too, Ford..."

A white gloved hand reached up and settled over the one resting on his shoulder, and Ford sighed deeply through his nostrils. "So... What does that make us, now...?"

Wayne simply shrugged. "I still consider you my best friend, if that's what you're worried about? That won't change no matter what." Ford always made a fuss about labels, so Wayne guessed that was his problem now.

The doctor nodded, looking a little relieved to hear him say that. "It's just... I know I can be your friend, but I'm not really sure I'll be any good at being 'romantic'... Surely not as good as you, anyways. Everybody knows you're the expert on romance. So, you might have to teach me..."

Wayne suddenly took his hand back, slapping it over his mouth as he began to laugh, loud, almost hysterical... Ford glared at him, waiting for an explanation, which he gave as soon as he calmed down and got his air supply back. "PFFF-! FORD... Come ON. Teach you to be romantic? If I was stupid enough to try to do something like that, a guy as smart as you would never consider being with me..."

"..." Okay, Ford gave a little snort of amusement at that too. "Fair point... But then again, what if I wanted to...?" Wayne blinked back at him, and Ford went redder. "That is... If I wanted to do something romantic for you, what should I do...?"

But Wayne didn't have any suggestions to give him. In fact, he outright shook his head. "I already told you, I only want you. And I wouldn't dare take the chance of ruining that personal charm of yours~"

Charm? Most people referred to it as having no tact...

But then again... Most people thought of Wayne as a playboy, a womanizer, when clearly nothing in the world could be further from the truth. Whatever they might think now that the two of them were together, would no doubt be just as wrong and inconsequential.

It turned out Wayne was wrong too, though...

Ford was really good at being romantic~

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO


End file.
